Sometimes you just have to do it. Forget the alarm clock. Sleep in. Waste time, and otherwise be somewhat irresponsible.

So that’s what I did this morning.

All last week I forced myself to try to get up at something close to my normal time so I could stay on my usual schedule, but this morning I decided to say the hell with it. I don’t use a regular alarm clock; haven’t in years. I set a mental alarm clock and can usually wake up at the time I decide the night before. Since we have lived out in the country these past eight years, my wake-up call is the sun rising and sending morning rays through our bedroom window.

This morning I told the sun to forget it, pulled a blanket over my head so I couldn’t see the light. Sent a silent apology to my animals for making them wait for their breakfast, and went back to sleep.

When I got up I quickly got all the animals fed and had a sense of urgency to start my day in my office, but it was such a pretty morning, and the dog wanted to play ball, and one of the cats wanted to play, too, so I “wasted” a half hour with them.

But do I care? Not really.

What about you? When was the last time you threw your schedule out the window and just had some fun? You don’t have to ‘fess up if it was on company time and you don’t want your boss to find out. I’m lucky in that I’m my own boss.

I do have those days, sort of. I always turn on my computer as soon as I wake up. I’m trying to develop the habit of reading for about 30 minutes before I sit down at the computer, though. When I do, I feel guilty and as though I’m running behind. So, I haven’t become a “free spirit” yet.

The whole idea of being a freelance writer is the ability to do just that. Well … it’s a nice idea, but with so many projects to work on, I find I’m up every morning very busy. I was just telling my husband this morning that I’d love to take a day off for a change. We’ll see!